No Longer Alone
by xxMutantAndProudxx
Summary: In his small room in the castle of Camelot, the lonely Merlin dreams of a far-away mother of dragons, and suddenly he doesn't feel so alone anymore. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

She was beautiful.

Her hair, long and intricately braided, shone silver in the moonlight, her eyes a luminescent violet. Her smooth skin was the creamy color of milk. Yet, strangely, it was not this beauty that entranced Merlin so, drawing him nearer and nearer to the moonlit goddess before him.

No, it was the fact that she was encircled by three dragons.

The dragons were not even close to Kilgharrah's size. They looked to be barely larger than the average dog. But for all their fangs and razor-sharp claws, they were lovingly nuzzling their heads into the woman amidst them, gazing at her with adoring eyes.

_Mother, _they seemed to whisper collectively, the sound floating on the soft night breeze to Merlin's ears. _Mhysa._

_Is that her name?_ Merlin wondered, not recognizing the word from the dragon tongue. It would certainly suit the woman, with all her power and beauty.

He continued to watch her, hidden behind the tree line, awestruck at how the dragons orbited around her. Merlin may have been regarded kin by Kilgharrah and a god-like figure by Aithusa, but the way these dragons behaved around this woman…It was like she was their mother.

Merlin lost whatever will he may have had to approach her and demand if she was some sort of Dragon-Lady equivalent to a Dragonlord. He silently lowered himself to the ground, content just to watch this woman, Mhysa, if that was her name, stroke her dragons' scales and whisper soothing words to them.

He knew not how long he stayed to watch the silver-haired goddess and her dragons, but in what seemed to him the blink of an eye, the sun was appearing in the eastern sky, tainting the lightening sky with scarlet.

Merlin could now see the woman clearly in the new morning light, and his eyes trailed over every inch of this enigmatic Dragon-Lady and her small but fierce dragons. Was she like him?

No, something told him. She was something entirely different, this Mhysa.

Just as Merlin was once more considering revealing himself to her, he heard the unmistakable heavy footfalls of someone crashing through the trees toward the woman's little glade. The dragons hissed at being interrupted, but they were calmed by their mother's soft cooing.

"Khaleesi!" a middle-aged man cried as he jogged into the clearing, his armor clanging. He bowed slightly to the woman, a gesture to which Merlin lifted an eyebrow, wondering why this woman had two names and just how important she was. "It is time."

The silver-haired goddess did not answer the man, instead looking east to the red sunrise and nodding to something only she could hear. She stood slowly, unnecessarily brushing off her blue dress, and motioned for her dragons to join her.

"Come, little ones," she murmured to them, and they competed to sit on her shoulders. "Thank you, Jorah," she added to the man, who nodded, eyeing the dragons warily.

_Don't go,_ Merlin wanted to call to her. To Mhysa, to Khaleesi. But just as he had found himself spellbound and unable to move, he now found himself unable to call after her.

He caught one more glimpse of the violet-eyed mother of dragons before his own blue-glowing-gold eyes flew open and he found himself flat on his back and staring at the ceiling of his bedroom in Gaius' chambers.

Sitting up, Merlin rolled over, placing his feet on the ground and his head in his hands. "It was a dream?" he whispered to himself.

But it had seemed so real…

Merlin shook himself for his wishful thinking that there could be someone like him out there in the world. Someone who saw the beauty in dragons, who could talk to them, who didn't fear even that kind of magic.

Then he wouldn't be alone. No longer the last Dragonlord.

It didn't matter if Mhysa/Khaleesi was real, Merlin decided. It didn't matter if she existed in his world or in another far away. She existed in his dreams, which Gaius had said to him once were their own version of reality.

It was in dreams, then, that Merlin would no longer be alone. He would be kin to the dragons with someone who held powers like his.

Merlin rolled over and was instantly pulled back under the waves of dreams.

He dreamed of a silver-haired war goddess in a sand-filled city, calling out the word _Dracarys_, and Merlin's dream world was filled with dragon fire and thousands of voices calling out…

_Mhysa! Mhysa! Mhysa!_

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**A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Drop a line and tell me what you thought! :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi there! So I really wanted to give continue this, even if just a little bit. There seemed to be at least a handful of people out there who were interested, so this is for you! I don't know if I'll continue this further. That basically depends on the response to this. I'm not trying to sound whiny, but obviously if no one reviews I won't continue. Enjoy!**

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It was Merlin's fourth time in this dream world when he finally learned her name.

_Daenerys._

It was exotic, he supposed, and decided it was perfect for the exotic goddesses he now had come to know was a princess fighting to recover the throne of her father, contested on all sides by those who would claim the throne for themselves.

Strangely, Merlin did not worry for her. She was fierce, and she had dragons. Anyone with the allegiance of dragons was a force to be reckoned with, Merlin thought, recalling the time he summoned Kilgharrah as Agravaine's forces closed in on Merlin and his friends in the caves beyond Ealdor. Those seeking to rule Daenerys' world would have to face the three fire-breathing children of the Mother of Dragons.

Each time he had visited this mysterious world (which he was still not entirely sure was completely of his own imagination), he had been a spectator on the sidelines, watching as the khaleesi commanded her people, drew an army to her side, and looked after her dragons. He had been unable to make any contact with her or indeed anyone of her world at all, though this was certainly not for lack of trying.

Somehow his days in Camelot running around after Arthur, a prat but a brave one, Merlin had long since recognized, had become easier to bear, his task as Emrys a lighter weight on his exhausted shoulders. He fell asleep each night hoping that his wearied mind would fall back into that fantasy world it had stumbled upon weeks ago, even though his visits were few and spread out over the course of those weeks.

Gaius had commented on it, as had Kilgharrah. Merlin looked better, they said, healthier and more at peace with his destiny. Merlin could never bring himself to reveal Daenerys or her world whenever the two asked what had caused the ever-so-recent change in him. The princess who shared some of his ability was an apparition he desired to keep to himself for as long as he could. She was his balm, his solace, soothing his mind even outside of the vivid dreams.

If only he could speak to her.

If only she could see him, too.

For dozens of more weeks, Merlin watched Daenerys from the shadows, supporting her in her campaign through a land he had learned was called Essos. He saw as she bargained for mercenaries, ruthlessly commanded cities to be sacked, and he felt something strange course through his veins as the warrior Daario Naharis did what Merlin could not, guiding Daenerys' fingers across the map below them, his fingers lingering on the pale skin of the dream figure Merlin was never to touch.

"Merlin, are you all right?" Arthur's voice broke into Merlin's daydream reminiscence of the night before. The blond king gazed up at his friend with concealed concern as Merlin stood over his dining table, pitcher of wine in hand, staring blankly ahead.

"Fine," replied Merlin, offering a smile that Arthur seemed to accept.

"As I was _saying_ before you dropped out on me like the _idiot _that you are…," said Arthur grandly, continuing where he had left off before Merlin's mental detour.

But Merlin found he could only listen for a few more brief moments before his eyes caught on the dragon emblazoned on Arthur's folded cloak resting on a nearby chair, and his mind flew to the wastelands of Essos, where an army marched on foot, led by the violet-eyed princess of war.

That night, Merlin observed as the army halted to make camp, for it was night in their world too, the same time of night even, if Merlin was to judge by the stars overheard and the path of the moon. He approached Daenerys silently, though there was truly no need to do so – she would not be able to sense him anyway.

Just like the first time he had seen the Mother of Dragons, the Dragon-Lady as he had taken to thinking of her in an effort to link her to his own Dragonlord status, she was bathed in the cool light of the moon, tonight a crescent. The whole scene before him seemed fuller of magic than the Crystal Cave itself, the very air around the khaleesi thickly saturated with a magic almost wholly unfamiliar to Merlin.

Merlin was seized by the sudden desire to take a closer look at Daenerys and her slumbering dragons, and he took several steps closer before the unbelievable happened.

He brought his foot down heavily on a dead twig.

The twig broke with a noise that was, to Merlin, louder than the roars of every dragon he had ever heard.

Daenerys' head snapped toward him, her eyes fixating on him for the first time, their piercing gaze freezing Merlin in place.

She did not stand, as he had expected, nor did she call out for aid. Instead, she spoke to him in a calm but commanding voice – the lilt of a goddess but the order of a queen.

"Who are you, and why are you here?"

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**A/N: I hope you liked it! Please, please, please review – reviews mean so much to me. Especially if anyone out there would really like for me to continue this, since as of now I'm unsure. Also be sure to tell me where you'd like this to go, in terms of storyline and also Merlin and Dany as just friends or something more. I hope you enjoyed, and please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi everyone! I'm so sorry it's been so long, I've just had a really busy summer. But I hope this chapter is worth the wait!**

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"Er."

It was the only sound that managed to escape from Merlin's throat. His brain seemed to have liquidated, churning as thickly and slowly as butter. After all these weeks…After all these weeks of Merlin silently watching, this character in the nighttime dance of his dreams was at last able to see him. Merlin had often found himself longing, even in his waking hours, for the Dragon-Lady to notice him, for this night to be different from the night before, for he himself to finally be able to confide his secrets in someone who was not as scolding as Gaius or bound-by-oath as Lancelot. Or dead as Freya.

"Answer me now, or I will not continue to hold my dragons back," Daenerys warned, sounding not at all sorry at the prospect. Of course she had not called for aid when she saw his approach. She believed herself untouchable when surrounded by her scaled, fire-breathing children.

"They will not attack me," said Merlin quietly, finding his voice.

Daenerys quirked a brow, reminding Merlin briefly of Gaius before an impatient tilt of the khaleesi's head brought him back to the present. "And why should they not?" asked Daenerys, sounding both curious and amused.

"Because I am like you," replied Merlin, much more confidently than before. His heart, however, would have betrayed him, could Daenerys hear it galloping in his chest at the thought of revealing one of his most deeply guarded secrets.

"Are you?" The tiniest of smiles was beginning to work its way onto Daenerys' lips. "In what way?"

Merlin took a step closer, unable to believe what he was about to do. Logic burst into his head in the form of Arthur's most dollop-head-like voice: _It's just a dream, idiot, you can say whatever you want. _And Voice of Reason Arthur was right. Merlin could do this. It was all happening inside his head, wasn't it?

"I am a Dragonlord," he told Daenerys proudly, for once able to claim that part of his heritage which he must keep hidden just as much as his magic. "The last Dragonlord."

The smile vanished from the khaleesi's face. She may not have been clear on what the word meant, but Merlin knew that the inclusion of the word dragon was enough to put her guard up.

"And what, precisely," she began, in attempt to regain control of the situation she had not so long ago thought securely in her grasp, "is a Dragonlord?"

"I am kin to all dragons. Just like you, Mother of Dragons."

"Kin to all dragons?" Daenerys repeated weakly. "Like…me?"

Merlin watched the shock travel through the woman's goddess-like features, quickly followed by suspicion. But she was not suspicious of the abilities he claimed to have, Merlin noted with a deep thrum of pleasure. She only doubted that he actually possessed them.

"Prove it," she said, her voice stronger. "If you are a Father of Dragons, a _Dragonlord_, then tell me, how many dragons have you hatched? And why are they not with you?"

"I have hatched one dragon in my time as a Dragonlord. He is one of the only two dragons left in my world. They roam freely, and only come when I call."

"When you call?"

"Are you not able to speak to dragons?" Merlin asked, confused.

"Of course not," said Daenerys dismissively. She looked back up at him after a moment, her eyes drifting up and down his tall form, a crease between her eyebrows. "You can?"

Rather than answer her directly, Merlin turned his gaze on the three dragons curled around her. _Dragons, come here,_ he said softly in the tongue of dragons.

Two of the three easily left their wide-eyed mother and glided over to Merlin's feet, the third and biggest following almost reluctantly.

Ignoring Daenerys' gasp of astonishment, Merlin asked the infant dragons, _What are your names?_

_Viserion, Rhaegal,_ came two quick replies, followed by a gruff _Drogon_.

_It is a pleasure to meet all of you,_ said Merlin, and he meant it. He had only ever spoken to cryptic Kilgharrah and young Aithusa. Here were three more dragons for him to become acquainted with.

"What are they saying?" asked Daenerys somewhat anxiously. "Can you actually understand them?"

"They told me their names," said Merlin, and he repeated them, gesturing to each as he said the name.

Daenerys stood suddenly and approached Merlin and the dragons, coming to stand mere feet from Merlin, almost a full two heads shorter than him but still no less of an intimidating figure.

"You weren't lying."

Violet eyes looked intently into midnight blue, two strangers each searching for that familiar something in the other's eyes.

"You can command dragons," murmured Daenerys before confusion entered her eyes. "But you are not a Targaryen."

Merlin furrowed his brow. This word sounded vaguely familiar to him, but he could not quite place it. "A what?"

Daenerys smiled then, and took Merlin's arm, guiding him back to the rocks on which she had been sitting before he disturbed her peace, the dragons following them in a way that made Merlin feel quite like a mother duck.

"It seems we have much to talk about…," she trailed off meaningfully, glancing back at him.

"Merlin."

"Merlin," she tested it on her tongue. Merlin guessed she must have decided she liked it, for she smiled at him and repeated it. "Merlin."

Merlin.

Merlin.

MERLIN.

Merlin's eyes flew open. Before him was a white-haired figure throwing a blue tunic at him, but it was not Daenerys.

"What is it, Gaius?" Merlin groaned, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he sat up in his bed, standing up to hurriedly swap his nightclothes for the tunic and a red neckerchief.

"You're late," replied the old man, already walking out Merlin's door. He continued talking, no doubt expecting Merlin to follow him (which, bleary-eyed, he did). "I thought you'd already left. Arthur will be furious with you, you know. It's the third time this week. Here, take an apple and be on your way."

Merlin stared blankly at the proffered fruit. "What are you talking about?"

Gaius arched one eyebrow perfectly. "Forget what I said about these dreams being healthy for you, Merlin. They're anything but."

"What?" Merlin said again, growing increasingly confused.

"You glide through your life now, Merlin, neglecting your destiny for a dream."

"It is a good dream, Gaius," said Merlin. "You agreed with that not so long ago."

Gaius' mouth twisted into a frown of the most disapproving sort. "It will crumble like sand in your fingers one day, Merlin, if you continue to hold onto it so tightly. And once it is gone, the reality of your life will come crashing back to you, and you will be too late to realize that you have failed Arthur and the chance of uniting Albion is nothing but a memory."

"I would never allow that to happen!" Merlin cried, outraged that Gaius thought him capable of abandoning Arthur or his destiny.

"You already neglect your duties, Merlin." He gestured with the apple at Merlin's disheveled form. "You sleep hours later than you used to, showing up late to meet Arthur, being quite lax in your charge of protecting the Once and Future King. While you waste your days staring blankly out of windows and wishing to be returned to your dreams, Morgana grows stronger, mere miles away from the walls of Camelot. Will you let her kill Arthur and take the throne, so that you can continue to dream?"

If Merlin had been half-asleep before, he certainly wasn't now. "I would never allow that to happen!" he repeated, angrier even than before. He would never leave Arthur to face Morgana alone. What about Merlin's desire to confide in someone (when it definitely could not be Arthur or one of the knights, lest he end up on a pyre) made Gaius believe he would do such a thing?

"Gaius," Merlin began, attempting to keep his temper under control, his hands clenching and unclenching. Perhaps if he could just make Gaius _see_. "She doesn't hide. Daenerys, I mean, the woman in my dreams. She's like me, and yet she has the respect of everyone around her. She does not live in fear. She didn't scream when I confessed my magic to her. She didn't cry or laugh or do anything but understand."

Gaius' anger seemed to be fading into pity. "Because she is your own creation, Merlin, an image in your mind of the way you hope Arthur will one day receive your secret."

"This is not about Arthur. This is about more than that. It's about me and the secrets I'm forced to keep. I can't explain it…But I feel that she is somehow more than that."

"This dragon woman is nothing but a dream, Merlin."

"You don't understand –"

"Of course I understand! I lived through Uther's Great Purge, watching as hundreds of my kin were thrown on pyres, wishing that there would be someone I could confide in of my abilities but knowing that to reveal my secret would mean certain death. I know what you feel now, Merlin. I know the appeal of dreams. They are a balm for the soul. But I also know that if you allow yourself to continue visiting this Essos, you will soon be telling this Daenerys of these odd dreams you keep having of a land called Camelot and a man called Arthur."

"I would never allow that to happen," Merlin asserted once more, this time so lowly it was almost a whisper lost in the magic that hummed in the air of the room. "You, Arthur, Camelot…This is my life, and I accept that. But can you really begrudge me what peace I'm able to find, knowing the weight I have on my shoulders?"

"I only wish for you to fulfill your destiny, Merlin. And to remember where your home is."

Merlin reached out and gently took the apple from the old man's fingers, hoping Gaius would understand it was a peace offering. He crossed to the door, ready to face the wrath of his king, but with his hand on the knob, he turned back to look at his mentor. "This is my home, Gaius," he said quietly before rushing out of the room, the crunch of his apple echoing down the stone hallway.

"I fear it fast becomes only one of two, Merlin," Gaius said, half to himself and half to the young man who was no doubt already halfway across the castle. "And not the one where you may truly be yourself. If only you would be content to wait for Albion."

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**A/N: Well? I'd love to hear what you all think! And please tell me how I did with Gaius! And with Merlin, too, for that matter, and Dany. I'd hate to be butchering anyone from either of these awesome fandoms. **

**By the way, a big thanks (and lots of virtual cookies and Twizzlers and every other good thing) to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed this story. Thank you so much for your support! And please continue to let me know what you think! I don't bite, I promise! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello everybody! Good news: I'm not dead! Bad news: this is a very short chapter. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but at least it's something, right?**

**I wanted to take a minute to answer a few reviews:**

**Gia: Thank you, thank you for your support! I love your reviews. This chapter was basically inspired by you (not to be creepy or anything…) in terms of the POV. Thanks for that suggestion, it was one of the things that got me to keep writing this when I honestly didn't feel like it (at all). I hope it lives up to your expectations! :D**

**Jayfire: That's one of the nicest compliments **_**ever**_**. Hopefully this chapter continues the theme of the Merlin/GoT puzzle!**

**kyunaru: I hope you like this chapter! :) **

**Sarcasm. Incarnate: I literally squirmed with pleasure when I read your review! Thank you so much for supporting this story. And believe me, I know how you feel with all the stories involving the best characters only being written in languages I can't understand! I hope this one keeps them all in character too! :)**

**H. N. Dots: Glad to see I've intrigued you! Let's see if this one does too!**

**And a big thanks to everyone who followed or favorited this story. You guys are the best!**

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Merlin was acting strangely.

Not that this was all that unusual, if Arthur was to be honest with himself, as Merlin had always had that _something _about his person that Arthur could not quite place. But all the same Merlin had been acting strangely as of late.

Merlin looked healthy and well-rested, absolutely, but something about those finally filled-in shadows beneath the cerulean eyes of Arthur's manservant seemed wrong to Arthur. If health could be unhealthy, Arthur felt certain he was seeing evidence of it in the younger man. He was too withdrawn into his new picture of health, too pensive and unfocused. Lately, Merlin's presence had come to mean silence rather than laughter.

Arthur knew he was not the only one to have noticed this over the past several weeks. Guinevere's concerned eyes had been following the manservant when he passed her in the castle corridors. Gwaine's brows scrunched together when Merlin neglected to give a hearty laugh at one of his quips of Arthur's princess-like nature (none of which were remotely true).

Merlin was the incarnation of physical health…but something was missing from his eyes. Not that the king of Camelot spent much time worrying over the quality of his friend's eyes.

This morning, Merlin was almost an entire hour late; tardiness was to be expected when it came to Merlin, but this was unlike even him. He stumbled into the room crunching on an apple, with part of his blue tunic bunched up under his brown coat, the ends of his hastily-tied neckerchief poking up at an odd angle near his (rather large) ears.

Aiming to get some kind of reaction out of Merlin, Arthur turned his attention back to his desk, pretending to write the document he ought to have been constructing when he was ruminating on Merlin moments before, and he said loudly, "You seem to be in the mood for fruit this morning, Merlin. Should I have you sent out to the stocks so you can enjoy some more of it?"

Arthur didn't have to glance up to know that Merlin was rolling his eyes. Or at least the old Merlin would have been.

"I'm sorry, Arthur," Merlin began, only a thin vein of exasperation running through his words. "I was sleeping heavily, and Gaius had to wake me up."

There was a brief pause before Arthur replied. He'd been waiting for Merlin to let loose a chuckle and call him a prat for being so rude about his manservant needing sleep, or something equally ridiculous but completely _Merlin_.

"Well," said Arthur, setting down his quill and leaning back with his hands woven into his blond hair behind his head, "I had hoped to get some hunting done today, you and I, but I had forgotten that there's a whole mound of army boots in need of polishing. It looks like you'll have to do that today, Merlin."

Again, Arthur waited for Merlin to scoff and flat out refuse to perform such a stupid task.

Instead Merlin was staring at some point to the right of Arthur, who followed his line of sight to Arthur's red cloak, which lay haphazardly upon a nearby chair, the golden dragon sigil clearly visible. Arthur wondered why exactly Merlin had chosen that as the object of his unfocused eyes today.

"Right," muttered Merlin, hands deep in the pockets of his trousers. "I'll go to it then."

Barely sparing a glance to his king and friend, Merlin was out of the room with strong, confident strides – accompanied, it seemed, by no real purpose.

Arthur set his resolve in that moment. Forget Morgana for the time being. He'd find out what was wrong with Merlin, and he'd be damned if he didn't set him right.

And a Pendragon's resolve was not to be trifled with.

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**A/N: Oh man, did it feel good to be writing again! I've had a lot going on, so it's been awfully therapeutic to sit back down and be creative again. I know this chapter is really short, but I hope that it keeps everyone's interest. With any luck, I'll have another chapter up after a much quicker wait than the last one!**

**Thank you again to everyone who read this. Please review and give me your thoughts! (Not a mind reader! Even though that would actually be really cool…I could be the next Professor X…) Please tell me what you thought and what you hope to see as I continue! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello, hello! It's been so long! I have a nice long chapter here that I hope lives up to everyone's expectations after such a horrifically long wait. I hope you all enjoy it!**

**Just to answer some reviews so I don't feel like even more of a jerk:**

**Gia – Love reading your reviews! You have such great ideas that so often are on the same wavelength as mine. I really hope you like this chapter!**

**Jayfire – You are so kind, and I hope you continue to enjoy the way I handle the story and the characters!**

**Angel-sama - Merci beaucoup!**

**And to everyone else, you are all so wonderful. Thank you for reading, and please enjoy!**

…**.**

"It is not like that here," Daenerys said softly, shaking her head.

She sat on the sands of a quieter part of the camp erected for the night by her Unsullied, facing a black-haired companion that as of now only she could see, her three dragons surrounding them. Merlin had just finished telling her of magic in his world, and how cruelly Uther Pendragon had turned the world against those with magic.

"Magic may be practiced freely here?" asked Merlin, hardly daring to believe it. He had suspected as much from the way she, the Mother of Dragons, commanded an army with her obvious magical prowess out in the open, but to hear it for certain would be even more extraordinary.

Daenerys shook her head once more. "What I meant was that we do not _have _magic like that here. There are certain forms, I suppose," she added, her lip curling as she thought of Mirri Maz Duur, "but they are nothing like what you described. As for freely practicing it, there are no laws prohibiting it, but I would advise against it, at least outside my encampment. This world is not a forgiving one, Merlin, and its people do not take kindly to that which is different or potentially threatening."

"Ah." Merlin tried to bite down his disappointment. "But what you do is not considered magic?"

Daenerys shot him a look, slight confusion in her violet eyes, her white eyebrows drawn together. "What I do? I am the wronged daughter of a wronged queen attempting to regain what is rightfully mine. There is no magic in that."

One of the dragons, Rhaegal, sleepily scuttled into Merlin's lap, the moonlight glinting off his peridot scales. As Merlin thought of how best to explain himself, he could not help but contrast Daenerys' impressive assertion of authority with how _young _she still was – she had accepted this stranger who claimed he was from a different world with hardly any proof; he had even disappeared right before her eyes several nights before, as Gaius called him back to waking, and reappeared tonight, and she had done nothing but offer a guarded smile at the man who could speak to her dragons.

"You hatched these dragons, did you not?" Merlin inquired at last. At Daenerys' nod, her eyes on Rhaegal, he continued. "Only a Dragonlord, or a Dragonlady, I suppose, may do so, and they are magical beings. Hence you are a magical being." She certainly looked it, Merlin couldn't help but think as he allowed his eyes a moment to rove over her seated form.

Daenerys looked away from the stranger and her dragon, turning her face to the distant place where the night sky met the sands below. "I assure you I am not what you think. I was able to hatch my dragons because I am a Targaryen, of the blood of Old Valyria. Controlling dragons is my birthright."

As Merlin opened his mouth to respond, he heard a voice as if from the back of his mind, a voice he recognized instantly. _Merlin, I must head out early, _Gaius spoke. _I trust that for once you can wake yourself up while I'm gone?_

"Yes," Merlin said aloud, and quite accidentally, but in the back of his mind he could sense Gaius' approval and departure. And then the odd moment of dual consciousness had passed, and Merlin was once again only present with Daenerys.

"Yes to what?"

"It was strange," replied Merlin, because for once he was faced with someone he felt he could tell anything to. "I've told you that this is all like a dream for me?"

Daenerys nodded. "And I've told you that I am most definitely a real person."

"Yes, well, in my world, the _other _world, I just heard my…mentor calling for me to wake up, said he was going out. Normally this would've woken me right up, I'd have been gone from Essos right away, but this time I was able to answer him, and I'm certain he heard me, but I'm still here. It's as if I have control of it this time."

"Of course you do," the goddess-like figure beside him said dismissively. "It's your mind, isn't it?"

Merlin shifted into a more comfortable position with the sleeping Rhaegal, who snorted out steam from his nostrils at the disturbance. "Yes, but that was as if I was in two places at once. I don't understand how I could be both there in bed and here with you."

The khaleesi finally turned to look into his midnight blue eyes again. "Does it matter?" she asked lightly. "You're in control of your own mind. Choose to stay here with me, for just a little longer. We have much to talk about, now that I know you won't be vanishing right before my eyes again at some call from an old man."

"I don't know," Merlin said uneasily, glancing toward the horizon where the slightest glimpse of dawn was visible. "Arthur will be expecting me soon." He bolted upright from his reclined position, Rhaegal grunting in annoyance. "Arthur!" How could he have forgotten that name for an entire night…?

"Arthur? Another curious name."

"He is my king, and a friend. I serve him."

Daenerys' eyebrows shot up. "One such as _you, _a Dragonlord with all the power of the world at your fingertips, a servant to a king?"

"He is a good man. I am his protector…though he does not know it."

"He does not know what you do for him? Why do you continue to do it, if there is no appreciation from this _king _of yours?"

Merlin sighed. "It is too difficult to explain. There isn't time now."

Daenerys smiled lightly. "But there is, Merlin. Haven't we just established that you are suddenly in control of when you must return to the other world? I want to hear more about…Camelot, and this King Arthur."

With one more hesitant glance toward the now rising sun, Merlin turned back to the beautiful woman and gave one nod. "Just for a little bit, then." He grinned at her, an expression he had once sported so often in Camelot but now was only able to properly offer to Daenerys. "As long as you tell me more about these seven kingdoms, and what it means to be a…Targaryen."

"Very well," she answered, smiling in return, lying down on the sand. "You'd best get comfortable."

…..

"Haven't seen him anywhere," Percival said with a baffled shake of his head.

Arthur groaned in frustration. "Gaius said he was there this morning when he left, but he came back and he was just gone! How is it that _no one's _seen the bloody idiot? Is he that easy to miss with those _ridiculous_ neckerchiefs of his?"

Percival, ever so calm, shrugged. "Sorry, Arthur. Don't know where he could be."

"Keep looking," ordered Arthur, turning on his heel and heading back into the castle, directing himself toward Gaius and Merlin's chambers to report that his search had turned up nothing. "Gaius!" he called, noticing the old man coming toward him from the other end of the hallway.

"I managed to track down Gwaine," Gaius told him wearily. "He was in the tavern, but Merlin was not with him."

"But it's been _hours_," Arthur complained. "Where else does Merlin go if not the tavern?!"

Gaius gave the king a _humph_ and continued on toward his chambers, Arthur on his heels.

"Where else could he possibly –?" Arthur broke off as Gaius pushed open the door, for there, lounging comfortably on a chair in the middle of the room, was Merlin.

"Merlin," Gaius gasped.

Merlin looked between the two of them, startled, and jumped to his feet. "What's wrong?" he asked urgently.

"What's wrong? What's WRONG?" Arthur bellowed. "You bloody clotpole, you've been nowhere to be found for _hours!_"

"I've been in bed all day," replied Merlin, not even acknowledging Arthur's insult. "I wasn't feeling well when Gaius left. I forgot to send someone to tell you I would not be working today, Arthur."

"You – _forgot_?" Arthur spluttered, but Gaius spoke over him.

"Merlin, you have not been in bed all day. When I returned, you weren't here, so I assumed you were with Arthur, but imagine my surprise when he showed up here to ask where you were."

"We've been looking everywhere," added Arthur, still breathing heavily. "None of the servants have seen you, none of the knights, not even Gwaine."

"I was…gone?" Merlin asked, looking incredibly puzzled while the two other men gazed at him expectantly, awaiting an answer – which, in Arthur's opinion, had damn well better be good.

….

**A/N: Again, I am so, so sorry I haven't updated in months! It must have seemed like I abandoned this story, but I promise I haven't. I'll keep writing this until it's finished.**

**I hope you all liked this chapter, but it's been so long so I really need to hear what everyone thinks – please be kind enough to leave a review. I hope I was able to keep the story flowing and keep everyone in character (as well as they can be when in a crossover). **

**Thank you all for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting, and I promise I won't disappoint you again! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Please don't kill me – it's been a long time, I know! I'm so thankful that you guys still put up with me!**

**As is tradition, I'd like to answer a few reviews:**

**Peya Luna – I'm so glad you like this enough to take the time to think on it. Dany meeting Arthur would be interesting, wouldn't it? Don't want to give away any spoilers, but seeing Aithusa is ****pretty much a given**** obviously a definite possibility, if you catch my drift. (No spoilers here, haha). :)**

**Leisey – Thank you so much!**

**DarkDevon13 – You raise an interesting point, my friend. Your questions will be answered later in the story, I promise!**

**titan616 – That seems to be in Merlin's job description, doesn't it? I hope this story makes good on its potential! :)**

**safranbrod – I'm sure you'll have quite a ride following my at-times-questionable steering! Thanks for letting me know what you think! :)**

**IrrationalOne – I try my hardest to keep to canon, as OOC characters can get a bit irritating. I hope the story continues to please you! And thanks for the compliment – you're amazing for being so kind!**

**Teekalin – Can I be a geek for a second and say I love your Merlin/Harry Potter crossover? It's wonderful! (And sorry I haven't reviewed…*awkward face.*) Okay, that aside, thank you so much taking the time to tell me what you think. You're right about the connection between Merlin and Daenerys being so clear, and I agree that we need more GoT/Merlin crossovers as the worlds are very compatible, particularly with the closest link between Merlin and Dany. Hope you like this chapter too!**

**Alexis – I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the last one! :)**

**Angel-sama – Enjoy!**

**kyunaru – It's good to be back! (Well, every month or so, haha.) Merlin will definitely have some influence in Westeros/Essos events, don't worry!**

**Zedicus101 – Hope you like this one! :)**

**Thank you all so much, and a special thanks to everyone who followed and favorited! You guys are the best!**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

Ѿ

Arthur felt like screaming.

His chainmail had never felt so suffocating, so restrictive. The very air around his being seemed hot, though his barely remaining rationality reminded him that it was rather a crisp autumn day, and pressed in on him from all sides, making his hands twitch with desire to reach out and throttle the nearest person. He could barely look at his knights and advisors gathered around the table with him as they droned on about this and that – the tension that had slowly pooled in his feet had been working its way up his body, threatening to strangle him much like his heavy chainmail.

For how could he listen to the Round Table's discussion of easily-fixable problems when _he _stood just over there, hands folded politely behind his back as he watched the meeting? But Merlin was not actually watching the meeting's progression as he once would have done eagerly, and this was what fueled the fury that Arthur had walked into the meeting already feeling.

The deep blue eyes of Arthur's manservant were focused on some point above Gwaine's head, something out the window and far away. Arthur wanted to rise and shake the man, get his eyes to _focus _again, get his mouth to form a proper grin once more, as Merlin had not done in weeks.

This was the root of Arthur's internal suffocation. Not Merlin's distance, no. Rather, it was Merlin's refusal to acknowledge any problem and simply _tell _Arthur what the bloody hell was wrong with him and how he could help his friend. For Merlin was his friend no matter how much he might tease the poor young man and Arthur simply could not stand it when friends lied to him.

"I was…picking flowers," Merlin had said the day before when confronted by Arthur and Gaius about his whereabouts all day.

Of all Merlin's ridiculous excuses, that had to be the worst Arthur had ever heard.

_Does he think I'm a fool? _Arthur had to wonder as he allowed his eyes to wander to Merlin again. _Does he think I'm incapable of helping him?_

Just then, as if something had brought him back into the room, Merlin's eyes snapped to his king. Finding Arthur's own turned to him as well, Merlin raised his eyebrows slightly, a small smile turning up his lips as he rolled his eyes at the table just as he used to do when both he and Arthur would get bored of council meetings.

But Arthur couldn't bring himself to give Merlin the exasperated look he was obviously seeking in reply. How could he act normally when Merlin was so clearly pretending? When he was clearly doing what he thought Arthur wanted to see (which was, quite honestly, always the last thing Merlin would have done before this)? He was trying to act as if nothing was off, hoping to convince Arthur that all was well. Arthur felt his fury rise at the thought.

_Does he think so little of me that he cannot ask for help?_

"My king," a voice prompted.

Arthur turned his glare from Merlin to Leon, trying to rework his features into something more noble and kingly. "Yes?"

"Er…perhaps it would be best to adjourn this meeting until tomorrow?" asked Leon, and Arthur had to wonder just how long the knights had been trying to get his attention.

"Very well." He cleared his throat. "Yes, that sounds…good."

Arthur blamed his ineloquence on Merlin.

After the meeting had met its official end, all of the knights stood and began to make their way out into the hall. Arthur followed after a polite nod to Gaius, striding into the hall with every intention of seizing Merlin by the neck, but it seemed Gwaine had already beat him to the young man, walking off down the hallway with him, an arm slung around Merlin's lean shoulders.

Ѿ

"So, how've you been, mate?"

Merlin winced slightly as if Gwaine's jovial voice and heavy arm about his shoulders were intrusive.

"Fine," he replied politely.

Though this bothered Gwaine, he chose to let out a boisterous laugh rather than face Merlin with his concerns. "Come on, Merlin! You have to give me more than that. We haven't had a proper conversation in weeks! Tell me what you've done recently to mess with the princess. Or I suppose the queen, I should say now. But I prefer princess."

"The queen?" Merlin asked quickly, alarm briefly touching his face.

"Arthur," said Gwaine slowly, allowing his smile to slip a fraction and his arm's grip to loosen infinitesimally.

"Right," muttered Merlin, as if to himself. "Arthur."

"You seem a bit distracted, mate. Everything all right?"

"Fine," Merlin repeated, giving Gwaine a semblance of an old Merlin grin as they came to a stop outside his and Gaius' chambers. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Sure you're not ill? Gaius is well? Your mother?"

Merlin paused in the doorway, turning back a bit to fix his friend with another smile. "Gwaine, I would tell you if anything serious was wrong. But everything's fine."

Gwaine let drop all pretenses of passing concern and jovial questioning. "You don't look well, Merlin. Half the time it's as if you're not even here, like your head's off somewhere else. The other half you're _not _here, disappearing and not telling anybody where."

Leaning against the doorpost, Merlin replied, "If you're talking about yesterday, I actually was picking flowers. You can tell Arthur that."

"I'm not asking for Arthur!" Gwaine burst out, taking a step forward before checking himself. "I am your friend as much as he is, and I am worried that you've gotten yourself into something and just won't let your pride go enough to ask your friends for help. And I'd never before thought you to be a prideful man, Merlin. Never thought ill of you at all."

Merlin straightened and walked fully into his and Gaius' chambers, letting go of the door. As it closed on Gwaine, Merlin answered, "Please don't start now, Gwaine."

Ѿ

"I will tell Arthur."

"You wouldn't dream of it, Gaius, and we both know that."

The old man raised one brow, fixing Merlin with his most disappointed look. "Why should I not? I clearly am not enough to convince you that your little dream excursions are fast becoming an awful idea. Perhaps he can knock some sense into you."

"You're forgetting one thing, Gaius – you'd have to tell him about my magic, about me being a Dragonlord. That's enough to get us both executed!"

Gaius sank into the chair opposite Merlin. "After all this time you think him capable of ordering the death of a friend?"

"He hates all forms of magic, and all who practice it. Why would I be any different?"

"Because you could make him see the good of it," Gaius spoke beseechingly, clasping his hands on the wooden table before them. "You would help him. But first, I beg you, let him help you."

"I don't need help, Gaius! You are acting as though I'm ill, or injured, or poisoned, or who know what, but I am as well as I've ever been, better even, now that I have someone I can speak to about all of these things."

"You've always had that, Merlin," said Gaius, a small gleam of sadness flickering in his eyes like a candle flame.

Merlin looked down, feeling a modicum of shame. "You know what I mean. It's different. She is like me in more ways than anyone I've ever met before. She is actually interested in what I have to say, and certainly she has many interesting things to say. She's from a world I know nothing of, Gaius; can you really blame me for spending time thinking of another world?"

"Yes, Merlin," Gaius said heavily, "when you begin to neglect your own world. Your thoughts are no longer where they should be. What if something had happened to Arthur while your mind was a million miles away? Or while you yourself were somehow a million miles away? Did you never question that this might be Morgana's doing, or that of some equally dark sorcerer, trying to lure you out of Camelot, away from the king you are destined to protect?"

Looking up with a hint of anger in his deep cerulean eyes, Merlin replied, "I know what dark magic is like, Gaius, and this is not it. This feels like the Old Religion, like some natural forces brought our worlds together in this small way that they are similar. If only you could meet her, hear of her world."

Gaius heaved a sigh. "Merlin, I beg of you, do not go to this Essos tonight. Sleep a full night here in Camelot, and we will continue this in the morning. Or I will tell Arthur," he added as Merlin began to protest. "And do not doubt that I will."

Ѿ

Merlin wondered if Rhaegar Targaryen would have been a king like Arthur.

He was sitting by the window of his small bedroom, gazing out over Camelot, with the starry night sky woven like a canopy over the sleeping city. The watcher at the window, however, could not bring himself to sleep just yet. Especially if he was to keep his word and not see Daenerys tonight.

Yet he could not stop his thoughts from turning to the enchanting tales and horrifying stories of Daenerys' exotic world.

Rhaegar, Merlin mused, would have been very like Arthur, the way Daenerys spoke of him. But he might have been even more just, accepting magic, which Arthur had decidedly not done. Dragons would have been welcome in Rhaegar's King's Landing, and Daenerys had wagered that Merlin and his like would have been welcomed as well. "Why should you not be?" she had said, half joking and half serious.

She saw him as no one else did. To her, he was a fellow human being. Not Merlin the manservant, Merlin the cheerful friend, Merlin the foolish sorcerer, or Emrys the protector. Just Merlin, a person allowed to be many things because he was that one thing. Human.

Falling asleep that night was one of Merlin's hardest endeavors as a warlock. He struggled to find a way to allow himself rest without breaking his oath to Gaius, unnecessary as he believed that promise was. He could only hope that his mind would obey and remain in Camelot for the night.

Ѿ

**Thank you so much for reading! Please know that I appreciate you all so much, from those of you who still read even though you know I'm horribly inconsistent with updates to those of you who've just found my little story. I love you all to bits!**

**Please take the time to drop a review, tell me what you think, ask me a question, anything! I appreciate hearing feedback as it lets me know what I'm doing well and maybe not so well. I'll do my best to update again real soon! Thanks for reading, and review! :)**

**P.S. Anyone keeping up with Game of Thrones season 5? What do you all think so far? Has R+L=J been confirmed?  
**


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